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Home Â» Pregnancy Â» Research Reveals That Moms and Babies Are Connected in Surprising Ways

Research Reveals That Moms and Babies Are Connected in Surprising Ways

By The Baby News, June 8, 2012

Your baby never really leaves your body after those 9 months of pregnancy are over, Tufts University researchers recently discovered. A babyâ€™s cells can migrate from the placenta and fetus to stay inside the mom long-term.

The Tufts team, studying pregnant mice, found fetal and placenta cells inside a mother mouseâ€™s lungs.Â Those cells, the scientists say, remain in the mothersâ€™ bodies for decades.â€ťDuring pregnancy, cells from each fetus travel into maternal (blood) circulation and organs,â€ť their study reports.

HowÂ the left-behind fetalÂ flotsam penetrates the placentaÂ is a mystery. The researchers theorize that leaks form in the placenta as the birth day draws closer.

The team identified theÂ fetal cells as immune cells and clusters of connective tissue. They theorized that the immune cells may prevent the motherâ€™s immune system from rejecting the fetus as a genetic intruder. In other words, your baby becomes a part of you during pregnancyÂ so that your body doesnâ€™t reject it.

Baby cells swarming through mommy may sound like a sci-fi thriller that ends badly. But besides protecting the unborn baby from rejection, the fetal cells also are protective of mothers. Those fetal immune cells found in the motherâ€™s lungs rushed to support her heart when it was injured. The fetal cells are stem cells, with a healing power similar to that found in umbilical cord blood.

The research hasnâ€™t solved all the puzzles. For example, fetal cellsÂ seem drawn toÂ tumors. No one knows whether the cells fight tumors, or enable them.

The Baby News reports on whatâ€™s newsworthy in the world of parenting, developmental research and health. Itâ€™s written by Mom365â€™s editors â€“ follow us for breaking stories from newspapers and journals in the US and around the world, and join the conversation about what matters to moms.